Mark 15:17–19
Intro.
I once watched a man receive an award he did not earn—standing on a stage, smiling, applauded by people who knew better. Later someone whispered to me, “That’s not honor. That’s humiliation dressed up as praise.”
That’s exactly what’s happening in Mark 15.
HEAD — What This Text Reveals
Mark tells us the soldiers “clothed Him in a purple cloak… and twisted together a crown of thorns” (Mark 15:17).
This is a mock coronation.
Six hundred Roman soldiers gather. The robe. The crown. The salute. Every element of a king’s enthronement is present—but every piece is corrupted. This is not accidental cruelty. It is calculated shame.
Purple was the color of royalty—unattainable for common men. Whether it was a faded centurion’s cloak or a robe kept specifically for mockery, the message is clear: You claim to be a king? We will show you what kind of king you are.
And then the crown.
Not gold.
Not laurel.
But thorns.
Thorns appear first in Genesis 3—God’s visible, painful sign of the curse brought on by Adam’s rebellion:
“Thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you” (Genesis 3:18).
John Owen observed,
“The curse entered through Adam’s headship, and Christ bears that curse upon His own head.”
Do not miss the symbolism:
Jesus is crowned with the very emblem of humanity’s fall.
The soldiers meant it for mockery.
God meant it for redemption.
Thomas Watson wrote,
“Christ did not remove the curse by ignoring it, but by bearing it.”
The King of kings is robed in ridicule and crowned with the consequences of our sin—willingly, knowingly, shamefully.
HEART — What This Text Confronts in Us
The soldiers cry out, “Hail, King of the Jews!” (Mark 15:18).
Their words are right.
Their hearts are wrong.
They speak truth with mockery. Praise with contempt.
And that should unsettle us—because it’s possible to confess Christ correctly while resisting Him completely.
Jesus warned,
“Why do you call Me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and not do what I tell you?” (Luke 6:46)
Martin Lloyd-Jones said,
“The greatest danger to the church is not open hostility—but unsubmitted familiarity.”
It is easy to hail Him on Sunday and dethrone Him by Monday.
Easy to praise Him with lips while crowning ourselves with control.
R.C. Sproul put it plainly:
“If Christ is not Lord of all, He is not Lord at all.”
Here is the piercing reality:
The soldiers mock Him as King.
We often ignore Him as King.
Both dishonor Him.
HAND — How This Text Calls Us to Respond
1. Submit to the King You Praise
Ask yourself honestly:
- Is Jesus King in my vocabulary—or King in my decisions?
- What throne am I still guarding?
Don Carson reminds us,
“Grace does not negotiate surrender—it demands it.”
2. Hate Sin for What It Cost
Those thorns were not abstract theology.
They were sharp. Bloody. Real.
Voddie Baucham says,
“We talk about sin lightly because we think of it abstractly—Jesus wore it concretely.”
Confess sin quickly.
Repent deeply.
Do not toy with what Christ wore.
3. Endure Shame Faithfully
Jesus endured mockery before glory.
So will His people.
“If we endure, we will also reign with Him.” (2 Timothy 2:12)
Kenneth Gentry notes,
“The path of the King defines the path of His kingdom—suffering now, glory later.”
Closing Reflection
They crowned Him with thorns.
He will return with many crowns.
They mocked Him with false praise.
Every knee will one day bow in truth.
He wore the curse…
So you could wear the crown of life.
“Worthy is the Lamb who was slain.” (Revelation 5:12)
The question now is not Who do they say He is?
But who do you say that He is—and who sits on the throne of your life?